Blowpipe apparatus



I Sept; 2, 1930. A LLLL ON 1,774,865 v B ARATUS I I Sept. 2, 1930. 1'. ALLISON BLOWPIPE APPARATUS Filed Sept. 23. 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

ATTORNEYS.

v Sept. 2, 1930. l, ALLISON 1,774,865

BLOWPIPE APPARATUS I Filed Sept. 23, 1925 S Sheets-SheQt 5 'T v i I --:T w r 3 f' l I l P .L P: L J

l I i INVENT0R: BY z z ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 2, 1930 UNITED STATES TEN OFFICE 1am nnnson, or FOREST ranx, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE oxwELn RAILROAD smwron comramr, a conroaarron or DELAWARE BLOWPIPE APPARATUS Application filed September 23, 1925. Serial No. 58,131.

This invention'relates to metal cutting ma- .chines and particularly to machines which utilize oxy-acetylene and similar blowpipes for cutting metal shapes corres onding to 6 preformed designs or atterns. owever, it is to be understood t at some features of this machine are of more general application and may be employed in other metal working machines, as' or example, in welding maw. chines employing oxy-acetylene and similar blowpipes.

i The improvements of the present invention relate primarily to that class of machines in which a malnand an auxiliary carriage w are so mounted that a pattern tracing device driven by a motor on one of the carriages may propel the carriages and a blowpipe thereon in accordance with the contour of the pattern traced. Prior to my invention it has been the practice in such machines to secure both the pattern and the work piece or blank to be cut onto the same machine bed and between the main railsof the machine. This has numerous disadvantages which renders such machines impractical for use on work of large dimensions. Where the work or blank is quite-long, as in the case of locomotive side rods of considerable length, the pattern must be the same length as the finished w piece and the blank from which. such piece is cut is usually lon er. In such cases, it is necessary to provi e an extremely long bed for the machine to support both the pattern and the work end to send in proper position for the tracer and the blowpipe to operate thereon. With a machine of such great length, it is difiicult for one operator to handle the cutting, as it becomes necessary for him to go from side to side around the ends of 40 the machine to watch the cutting at different points. Furthermore, with the work disposed on the machine bed between the main rails, the drive mechanism of the machine and other closely adjusted arts are often moved over parts of the wor that have be of end-'to-end thereto. This greatly reduces the machine length required to handle long work and is much more convenient for the attendant. In addition, the blowpipe is mounted on the auxiliary or transverselymoving carriage so that it may be movable universall in a plane above the work support outsi e the space between the main rails. The heat from the blowpipe and from the heated work is therefore always at a considerable distance from the drive mechanism and other parts of the machine which might be damaged by heat, and the blowpipe is where it may be elosely watched by the attendant of the machine. Such an arrangement practically divides in half the length of the machine making it much easier than formerly for a single operator to closely Watch the work and at the same time see that the tracer accurately follows the pattern on the machine bed.

In order that the machine shall work accurately it is necessary that the loadings of the carriages shall be substantially symmetrical. The two carriages movable at right angles to one another are required .to operate the blowpipe over the work substantially at uniform speed so that no matter whether the torch is moving in a straight line, along, a

curve line, or around a sharp corner the rate of cutting shall be constant. That is to say,

if at any point the blowpipe runs slower than it should there is danger of burning the metal along the cut, and if the'blowpipe runs faster than it should there is danger of im roper cuttin at such places. Accordingly, t e imrove mechanism is designed so that the riving means and the torch are mounted substantially symmetrically upon the auxiliary carriage, and the carriage frames, auxiliary carriage, and numerous other movable parts are made of aluminum to substantially reduce the mass and inertia of the movable part, sothat the blowpipe may be moved over the work at a substantially uniform speed.

Under certain conditions it is found desirable to provide a template for cuttingwork that is to be duplicated. On the other hand.

'it is frequently necessary to out out special pieces from a design drawn on a sheet or directly on the machine bed. Therefore, in accordance with one feature of this invention, the drive mechanism is equipped so that the machine may be either driven by mechanism that is automatically guided by a template; or manually guided by a hand-controlled tracing device by means of which av design ma be followed, thehand-controlled' and temp ate-controlled drives being constructed to be interchangeably coupled to the electric driving giotor. The objects and 11 e1 features of this invention will be more clearly understood vby referring to the following specification and the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a shape cuttinlg machine embodying this invention; and igs. 2 and 3 are enlarged views illustrating the interchangeable hand-controlled and automatically operating tracing andpropelling mechanisms, adapted for attachmentv to the machine shown in Fig. 1.

' Referring to Fig. 1 of the drawing, the improved shape cutting machine comprises a main or lower carria e C that has two pairs of wheels 11, 12, fitt1ng suitable rooves in a pair of main rails 13, 14 exten'ing along opposite longitudinal edges of the machine bed 15 that is mounted upon suitable frame members 16. The main carriage is thus freely movable longitudinally in either direction above the machine bed 15 upon which a des gn may be laid out or upon which a pattern, such as the pattern P, may be clamped or otherwise fastened.

The maincarriage frame carries a pair. of-

movable in either direction along the auxiliary rails and carriesthe propelling mecha-;

nism, the pattern tracing mechanism and the weld-mg or cutting blowpipe means. cooperation of the propellin mechanism and tracing mechanism causes t e movement of either or both carriages in accordance with The the pattern traced, thereby guiding the blowpipe correspondingly to cut out a piece similar and, in the present instance, equal in size to the pattern.

endon the machine bed between the main 7 rails. For convenience, as shown the work support'24 is mounted on frame members 25 in a horizontal plane somewhat lower than the machine" bed 15, and the auxiliary rails slightly overhang. the work support. The blank or'work piece Wis placed opposite or approximately parallel to the pattern on the machine bed so that as the tracer moves along the pattern outline the oxy-acetylene cutting blowpipe B will operate along a line parallel to the path of the tracer.

The means for supporting the blowpipe, com rises an extension 26 on the frame of the carr age K that projects substantially midway between the rails 17, 18 and carries an arm 27 that is adjustable lengthwise of said extension and secured in its adjusted position by clamps 28. A bracket'29, thatis adapted to support the blowpipe in any desired position vertically and angularly with relation to the work and work support, has a stem 30 that is rotatably adjustable in a clamp 31 at the outerend of the arm27. The bracket 29 carries-a chain 32 that-is secured to the blowpipe and may be fed in either direction by a crank and sprocket means 33 or other suitable means to vary the height oi the blowpipe. The combined length of the extension 26 and arm 27 is such that the latter projects outside the space between the main rails and suificiently overhangs the work support to support the blowpipe over the latter for movement the required distance in any,and changing'directions, as defined by the tracer that follows the pattern. The carriage K, the arm 27 and other parts on said carriage are desirably of aluminum to reduce its inertia and thereby afford more uniform movement of the blowp ipe. The propel ing'and tracing mechanism is mounted on the carriage K and comprises-an automatically. governed electric. motor M which has its armature ,sliitft';v connected through reduction gears 35, 36 t a shaft 37 geared torthe ring gear 38 of a'difierential gear mechanism which has shafts 39,40 carrymg bevel gears 41, 42 meshing with bevel. gears'43, 44 on ,u right shafts 45, 46. The shafts .45, 46 an parts drivin them are mounted on a turntable-47 turn la in bear.- ings on a fi'xedplatform 48 on the frame 22 and carry spur gears 49, 50 coupled through intermediate gears with spur gears 51, 52 on the upper ends of shafts 53, 54 which have beveled gears 55, 56 at their lower ends geared being traced.

- stem T, the gear meshing with an inter- The direction of movement of the wheel 58 is determined by a manually operable tracer T having a vertical'stem T that is rotatably journalled' in the frame 22. The tracer has a center point a and two points 6 and 0 equally spaced at opposite sides of the point a, the three points being alined and adapted to follow a pattern or-straight and curved lines of a design laid out or drawn upon the machine bed. The movements of the tracer T may be transmitted to the wheel 58 through suitable mechanism, as by a gear 60 fixed on the mediate gear 61 that meshes with an elongated gear 62 fixed on the inner tubular housing 63 that carries the wheel 58, the shafts 53 and 54, and the gears thereon. The housing 63 telescopically and removably fits into an outer tubular hotz/iixng 64 that is fastened to the platform 48. weight 65 fitting the housing 63 and restin on the ledge 65' of the latter serves to hold tfiewheel 58 down on its supporting surface and thereby provides more positive traction for said wheel. The removable telescopic housing 63 provides a construction whereby the wheel 58 and its drive means may be disconnected from the gears 49, 50, when it becomes desirable to substitute an automatically operable tracing housing 66 carries vertical shafts 67, 68 which means for the manually'operable means just described. In such cases the gears 61, 60 and the tracer T may be left in position or removed as desired.

, As illustrated in Fig. 3, the automatically operable tracer may consist of a unit that is interchan eable with the manually operable tracer. T e inner tubular housin 66' thereof corresponds to the housing 63 an is slidable in the same manner into the housing 64. The

have gears 69, 70 mounted on their upper ends and beveled toothed wheels 71, 72 mounted on their lower ends, the wheels 71, 72being adapted to bite into theopposite faces or upper corners of a pattern bar/7 3 of aluminum,

eavy cardboard. or other suitable material, so that as the electric motor drives the power transmitting mechanism connected the wheels 71, 72, the latter will exert tractionon the pattern and automatically follow the attern to cause the carriages to move the b owpipe over the work piece at a uniform speed in'a path similar to the pattern. The differential mechanism serves to com the difference in speed of the w eels 71, 72

nsate for both types of propelling devices, the telescoping housings may be of aluminum or other light material, and depend centrally from the auxiliary carriage centrally between the upper rails so that the weight and thrust of the mechanism is symmetrically disposed on the auxiliary carriage to afford more uniform cutting or welding speed. For example, the rails 17 and 18 of the upper carriage maybe of cast aluminum having parallel side portions and reinforcing ties 17. The rail 17 may have a substantially fiat top surface and the rail 18 may-.have a. central sawcut 18' tov provide a guide groove for the rib 21 of the wheel 21.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles of this invention or sacrificing.

.any of its advantages.

I claim:

metal, the combination of a pair of main rails, a main carriage movable along said scribed, the combination of a pair of substantially parallel main rails, a main carriage movable along said ralls, a pair of auxiliary rails supported by said main carriage and extending transversely of said main rails, an auxiliary carriage movable along. said auxiliary rails, a blowpipe carried by said auxiliary carriage and disposed outside the space between said main rails, and means for propelling'said .auxiliary carria' e to thereby move said'bl'owpipe in anyan changing directions.

3. In blowpipe apparatus of the class described, the combination of a pair of substantially arallel main rails, a main carriage .85 1. In blowpipe apparatus for operating "on movable a ong said rails, a pair of auxiliary 4 rails supported by said main carriage and extending transversely of said main rails, an

auxiliary carriage movable along said aux- 4 iliary rails, ablowpipe-supporting arm carried by said auxiliary carriage and extend. ing lengthwise of and between said auxiliary rails, a blowpipe carried by said arm, and means for pro elling said auxiliary carriage to move said b owpip'e at a substantially uniform speed in any and changing directions.

4. In a metal. cutting blowpipe apparatus,

the combination of, a .pair of substantially parallel main rails, a main carriage spanning. said rails and movable along the same,..a pair of auxiliary rails carried by said main carriage and perpendicular to said main rails, an auxiliar carriage spanning said auxiliary rails an movable along the same, a work suprt disposed alongside'but outside the space tween said main rails, a blowpipe-support- .ing arm carried by said auxiliary carriage and extending substantially lengthwise of 7 said auxiliary rails between the latter, a blowling said carri pipe carried by said armoutside said space andabove-said work support, and means for driving said auxiliary and main carriages to thereby move said blowpipe in any direction over said work support.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of'a pair of main rails; a main carriage movable-alon said rails; auxiliary rails supported by said main carriage; an

auxiliary carriage movable along said auxl disposed in the space between-said auxiliary 11. Blowpipe apparatus comprising a rails, whereby the propelling mechanism and the blowpipe with its carrying means are symmetrically disposed on said auxiliary carriage to balance the same.

7. .A machine according to claim 5, in com.- bination with a blowpipe-supportin arm car-Q ried by said auxiliary carriage an disposed erpendicular to the main rails, said blowpipe being mounted on said arm outside the space between saidmain rails and overhanging one side of the machine. 4 8. A machine according to claim 5, in combination with hand tracing means operat-ively connected to said depending driving means. 9. In blowpipe apparatus, the combination of a blowpipe, means for supporting the same for universal movement in a plane, meansfor driving said supporting means, said driving means com rising a vertical shaft and a wheel driven t liereby and adapted to engage a horizontal surface that provides a traction surface for driving the machine, and a hand tracing device so geared to the driving mechanism as to steer the wheel in accordance with a pattern.

10. In blowpipe apparatus, the combination of a blowpipe, means .for "supporting the same for universal movement in a plane, means for driving said supporting means, and means operatively connected to said driving means for guidin the same in accordance with a pattern, said guiding means comprising an arm disposed above the bed of the machine and provided with three alined points to trace a line.

blowpipe, means for supporting the same for universal movement in a plane, and mechanism for driving said supportin means comprising a hand-guided drive template tracing device interchangeably mountable on such supporting means.

evice and a 12.- Blowpi e apparatus according to means for supporting said blowpipe for universal movement in a plane above said work support, and mechanism for moving such supporting means comprising a tracing means adapted to follow said pattern or de- S1011.

14. In blowpipe apparatus, the combination of a pair of main rails, a horizontal machine bed between said main rails upon which a pattern may be supported or desl laid out, a main carriage movable along said main rails. auxiliary rails supported by said main carriage, an auxiliary carriage movable along-said auxiliary rails, a work support disposed alongside said machine bed but, outside the space between said main rails, a blowpipe carried by said auxiliary carriage and disposed above said work support, and mechanism for moving said auxiliary carriage with said blowpipe in any and changing directions in a horizontal plane.

15. In blowpipe apparatus for operating on'metal, the combination'of spaced supporting rails, auxiliary sup orting means extending transversely of said rails and movable along the latter, means for supporting a pattern in the space between said rails, and a blowpipe outside said space and carried by said auxiliary supporting means, said auxiliary supporting means and blowpipe being movable so as to follow the outline of said pattern.

16. In blowpipe apparatus for cutting metal, the combination of parallel supporting .rails spaced apart, auxiliary supporting means movable along said rails comprising guiding means extending transversely of said rails, means for sup rting a pattern in the space between said rails, a carriage movable along said guiding "means, and a cutting blow ipe outside the space between said rails an mounted on said carriage, said carriage and blowpipe being operable to follow the outline of said pattern and out work disposed outside the space between said rails.

1 In blowpipe apparatus, the combination of spaced supporting rails; a machine bed between said rails; a carriage movable 

